Government Security News

Curtiss-Wright and Airbus
collaboration delivers pre-validated
digital map solution
ASHBURN, Va. - March 17, 2015
– Curtiss-Wright Corporation
(NYSE: CW) today announced
that its Defense Solutions division,
in collaboration with Airbus
Defence and Space, has introduced
the SferiAdvise System
Ready Application (SRA), a new
pre-validated, pre-tested digital
map, flight plan, and helicopter
terrain awareness and warning
system (HTAWS) solution. It
provides system designers with
a verified software and commercial-off-the-shelf
(COTS) module
solution, yet adds no additional
cost. The SferiAdvise SRA, which
supports both 3U VPX and 6U
VME form factor modules, eases
and speeds the integration of
digital map and mission management
applications in defense and
aerospace rotary-wing platforms.
“We are very pleased to collaborate
with Airbus Defence
and Space to offer system integrators
pre-tested and pre-validated
cost-effective solutions for digital
mapping and mission management,”
said Lynn Bamford,
Senior Vice President and
General Manager, Defense
Solutions division. “Our
System Ready Application
approach reduces design risk and
cuts costs and time to market,
helping to ensure the success of
our customers’ system designs.”
SferiAdvise SRA Performance
Features:
• Digital Map: Capable of displaying
raster maps in all relevant
formats and scales in accordance
with the requirements defined by
DO-257.
• Flight Plan: In accordance
with DO-257, the SferiAdvise
SRA uses the GAMA protocol
interface to receive and display
flight plan information from
a Flight Management System
(FMS). When not interfaced to
the FMS, it can process and display
pre-loaded flight plans in
accordance with real-time navigation
data.
• HTAWS: The SferiAdvise
SRA provides predictive (as opposed
to reactive) aural and visual
warnings of terrain and ob-
20
stacle threats in accordance with,
and surpassing, the requirements
of DO-309 for rotary wing platforms.
The SferiAdvise SRA combines
the Airbus Defence and
Space’s popular SferiAdvise
Digital Map and Mission Management
Solution and Curtiss-
Wright rugged VPX-based commercial-off-the-shelf
(COTS)
board-sets. Two different configurations
of the SferiAdvise
SRA are currently available, one
for use in VPX-based systems
and the other for use with VME
architectures.
The pre-validated VPX
board-set consists of Curtiss-
Wright’s recently announced
VPX3-150 3U VPX Single Board
Computer (SBC) and VPX3-718
Graphics Controller Module.
Both of these compact, small
form factor boards support DO-
254 DAL C and DO-178C DAL